Glasgow to Bid for 2018 Youth Olympic Games

The British Olympic Association (BOA) announced on Wednesday Glasgow in Scotland will bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

The BOA will now formally submit its intention to bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by 1 March 2012.

As Host City of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow will have much of the necessary sporting, accommodation and transport infrastructure already in place, as well as the recent experience of delivering a high profile international multi-sport Games.

That’s one of the reasons why the BOA Board made its decision to support the submission from Glasgow as a potential Candidate City.

The BOA also believes that hosting the 2018 Youth Olympics is a great opportunity to further extend the youth, sporting and educational legacy of the London 2012 Games.

Over the forthcoming months the BOA will work together with officials from the city of Glasgow and the Scottish Government to further develop and progress the submission before the candidature file is delivered to the IOC in October 2012.

Ultimately, the IOC will produce a short list of Candidate Cities in January 2013, before announcing the winning Host City in the summer of 2013.

“The Youth Olympic Games have quickly established themselves as an important and inspirational event in the international sporting calendar. We know the bidding process will be highly competitive, but we are confident that in Glasgow we have an outstanding Candidate City,” said BOA Chairman Colin Moynihan.

The 2018 YOG will involve approximately 3,600 young athletes, aged 15 -18, participating across all of the 28 summer Olympic sports in 12 days of competition.

The inaugural Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010, and the first winter YOG was held in Innsbruck earlier this month. The second editions are due to take place in Nanjing, China in 2014, with the winter version being held in Lillehammer, Norway in 2016.

The athletes will not only compete at the highest level of international youth sport, but will also take part in a Culture and Education Programme, which is a core element of the Youth Olympics.

by Ismail Uddin